For many years, water and snow sport enthusiasts honed their aerial skills by practicing on a trampoline with a board attached to their feet. Illustratively, an article in the Aug. 31, 1997 edition of The Denver Post, DENVER & THE WEST; Pg. B-06, illustrates and explains that “Fuzz Federson . . . of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team does some snowboard moves from a trampoline Saturday as he and other members of the team helped entertain people in the long lines, above, that formed outside Gart Bros. sporting goods store at East 10th Avenue and Broadway . . . . ” Similar public trampoline performances using snowboards with snowboard bindings are reported in the Jun. 11, 1997 edition of the Hobart Mercury (Australia), “A few experts . . . demonstrated what they could do with a snowboard and trampoline in a crowded Elizabeth Mall in Hobart yesterday;” as well as in a Jan. 14, 1997 PR Newswire article reporting that Three Time World Freestyle Skiing Champion, Trace “The Ace” Worthington will make personal appearances and perform his ski and snowboard trampoline show at Tommy Hilfiger New Generation shops across the country. Likewise, a Jan. 1, 1997 article in the Washing Post, Prince William Extra; Pg. V08, entitled A New Twist for Snowboarding Enthusiasts; Local Gym, Stores Provide Resources To Learn About Sport explains “ . . . that's exactly what some local snowboard enthusiasts are doing these days at the gymnastics club on Morse Lane, using a large trampoline to practice complicated moves. The string-bed netting, after all, is a lot softer on the backside than frozen ground.”
As the use of boards on a trampoline has gained popularity, various trampoline boards have been devised. After all, snow boards and wakeboards are expensive, may damage a trampoline surface, may become damaged on springs and frames of a trampoline or by falling off a trampoline, tend to slip on a trampoline surface, and may injure a user. Alternative boards include various soft-sided board-like structures that will not damage the trampoline or injure the user, but suffer other shortcomings.
Many conventional foam boards lack sufficient rigidity to provide a realistic training experience. In use, the board loses stability (i.e., flops around) when airborne, which interferes with training because it does not realistically simulate the feel of maneuvering a snowboard, wakeboard or skateboard. Upon landing on a trampoline under the weight of a user, the foam becomes substantially compressed and provides an insubstantial substrate for propelling the user upwardly or compensating for a skewed landing.
When conventional boards (e.g., snowboards, skateboards and wakeboards) are used on trampolines, they do not flex sufficiently to conform to the trampoline surface during jumps, which tends to dampen the bounce of the board off the trampoline. The dampening effect limits the maximum jump height achieved, affecting the user's ability to execute training maneuvers properly. Additionally, even if the edges of the board may be covered, the hard surface of the board poses a risk to users.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,558 to Simon discloses a board referred to as a footboard with straps through holes or snowboard bindings to secure the footboard to a user's feet. Simon discloses a limited range of materials for the footboard composition, including wood (e.g., plywood), fiberglass, plastic, carbon fiber, aluminum, and other similar materials, or composites of such materials. Straps through holes do not provide a secure means for binding, nor do they emulate the bindings of conventional boards. Snowboard bindings are undesirable because such bindings are designed to accommodate bulky boots not worn during trampboarding. Additionally, snowboard bindings feature a stiff molded support behind the heel and up the calf area to allow riders to apply pressure and effect a “heelside” turn on the slopes. Unfortunately, however, the molded support is conducive to injury by digging into the user's legs and derriere during trampoline use.
Accordingly, a need exists for a resilient stable trampoline board adapted to configured to bend and conform to a deflected trampoline during downward motion and return to and maintain a substantially undeflected configuration during airborne maneuvers. The invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems and achieving one or more of the advantages as set forth above.